"The payrolls report confirmed that from a macroeconomic perspective the U.S. economy is growing"
- Yasuhiro Kaizaki, a vice president at Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank.
The U.S. labour market continues to improve, as the unemployment rate in the world's number one economy declined to the lowest level since September 2008, adding to evidence that the recent contraction was just a temporary blip. Non-farm payrolls rose 288,000 after a revised 224,000 increase a month earlier, the Labor Department data showed. Over the past six months employers added 1.39 million jobs, the biggest rise over a similar period since early 2006. The U.S. jobless rate has been falling steadily in the past few years, dropping to 6.1% in June from 6.3% a month earlier, indicating that the nation's economy is moving steadily closer to full health. Economists believe that healthy U.S. job growth should help boost more purchases of goods from Europe and Asia, thus strengthening their economies as well. Meanwhile, the main challenge for the U.S. is whether the job creation will attract more Americans into the workforce, as many people who lost jobs during the financial crisis have stopped looking for work. Currently just 62.8% of Americans either work or actively seeking for a job, compared to 66% before the recession.
Following the data release, the U.S. Dollar was set for a weekly advance against its major counterparts as evidence of U.S. recovery gathering steam spurred speculation the Fed will announce the timing of interest rate hikes.
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